Living in Germany: STEM workers from abroad, citizenship tests on paper and conscription

How STEM workers from abroad are contributing to Germany 

As we’ve talked about a lot at The Local, Germany is a country of immigration. And the government wants to attract even more people from abroad in order to plug the skilled worker shortage. This week a report highlighted how foreigners have made a huge contribution to the fields of STEM (that’s science, technology, engineering and maths) in the last decade in Germany.

For instance, between 2012 and 2022, the number of employees without a German passport in these positions increased by 171.7 percent, according to the study by the German Business Institute in Cologne. 

And one country stood out in these figures - employees from India rose by 558 percent during this time, followed by skilled workers from Turkey (up 196 percent), Italy (up 125 percent) and China (up 122 percent). A decade ago, there were about 3,700 Indians working in academic STEM professions in Germany, whereas today there are 25,000. Researchers said this type of migration has led to major contributions and innovative strength and prosperity in Germany. 

The Local’s Aaron Burnett noted in The Local’s Germany in Focus podcast this week that in general there has been a very strong growth of Indian people migrating to Germany in recent years. He said: “In 2021, Indians were the fourth most common nationality taking German residence in Germany - that has quite a bit to do with IT workers, as you build a community more people are interested in coming… In general Germany is grappling more and more in real time with being a land of immigration.”

Tweet of the week

To understand Germany, you must accept its paper-loving ways. 

Where is this?

Photo: DPA/Thomas Warnack

We’re heading to Baden-Württemberg today where this gorgeous photo was taken near Bad Buchau, in the district of Biberach. This is the frozen over Federsee lake shortly before sunrise. It has indeed been a chilly week across Germany, but temperatures are up slightly this weekend. 

Did you know?

Germany does not currently have military conscription, the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, which is usually a military service. But this did exist as recently as the 2010s. Between the years of 1956 and 2011, German men had to carry out obligatory military service for a year when they turned 18. Those who did not want to join could request to take part in a year of civil or social service, which included tasks that give back to communities such as working as a carer or helping out at hospitals. 

Back in 2011, former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government got rid of compulsory service, saying that the dangers had gone down following the fall of the Berlin Wall. But a number of debates have cropped up over the years about whether conscription in some form should return.

And Germany’s new Defence Minister Boris Pistorius recently said in an interview that getting rid of conscription was a "mistake", adding that while it was in place there was “always a connection to civic society”. A return of conscription is quite unlikely at the moment, at least under this government. But watch this space (and check out this article by Imogen Goodman on the recent debates).